It’s hard to think of Bruce Willis as anything other than one of the best action stars of all time, but that’s not at all how he started. It was with comedic material like Moonlighting and Blind Date. And, as was seen in stuff like Death Becomes Her, Nobody’s Fool, 12 Monkeys, and The Sixth Sense, action was far from the only thing he showed himself to be very good at throughout his career. But the fact remains, throughout his career, he was an action star first and foremost, and that’s all because of John McTiernan’s Die Hard. Without it there’s an argument to be made there would have been no The Last Boy Scout, The Fifth Element, The Jackal, Mercury Rising, Armageddon, and so on. At least, not in the form in which we know those movies.
And, thanks to the fact Die Hard was not a case of the first one being the only good one, we also ended up with one of the best action franchises of all time, if not the very best. But were all five of them solid? Let’s find out.
5) A Good Day to Die Hard
image courtesy of 20th century studios
Towards the end of Willis’ career, most of his projects were of the very low budget variety and whether it be a supporting or lead role he never quite seemed to have his heart in it. Of course, when it comes to any of the projects released around his 2022 aphasia diagnosis and subsequent 2023 frontotemporal dementia diagnosis, there was a fully logical and heartbreaking explanation behind this tendencey.
But A Good Day to Die Hard, one of his final big studio movies alongside G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Red 2, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, Rock the Kasbah, Death Wish, Glass, and Motherless Brooklyn, was 2013. And, even here, back in the role that made him an action star, he seems like he’d rather be elsewhere. It’s hard to blame him, too, because A Good Day to Die Hard isn’t just an extremely disappointing way to cap off this franchise, it’s an outright bad movie. The script is rife with bland father-son sparring, the villain twist is more obvious than the sun is bright, and John McClane doesn’t seem to be the same character anymore. Another big problem is Jai Courtney. His strength as a performer has improve considerably, but this is nonetheless similar to how Channing Tatum’s performance was rough in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra before he showed the world where he could excel via 21 Jump Street and, subsequently, more serious stuff like Foxcatcher.
4) Live Free or Die Hard
image courtesy of 20th century studios
The good news is that Live Free or Die Hard was a lot better than A Good Day to Die Hard. The bad news is that means it’s just one of the most generic actioners of the 2000s. It even manages to make the great Timothy Olyphant kind of forgettable as the tech-savvy villain.
Part of the problem is the fact that Die Hard, to its core, is an R-rated franchise. This one feels neutered at every turn. There’s nothing here you couldn’t find in other big actioners of its era. Furthermore, while Justin Long tries his best, it’s honestly just annoying seeing McClane drag around and protect a whiny young man who has never left his laptop out of sight. Toss in a baffling and lame Kevin Smith cameo and Live Free is at best passable one-time Saturday afternoon viewing.
Stream Live Free or Die Hard on YouTube Free.
3) Die Hard 2
image courtesy of 20th century studios
If there is a sequel to the original film that feels almost identical in spirit, it’s Renny Harlin’s Die Hard 2. And, frankly, that’s a bit of a problem. It really is just Die Hard but at an airport. It even takes place during Christmas week.
But this is still a great sequel, and likely the best film of Harlin’s career. There are a few things that work in its favor. Having the planes (one of which includes Holly Gennaro) circling above the airport is a wonderful way to build tension, the fake-out “the cavalry has arrived” twist is a good one, and Willis is still fully engaged as McClane. It was also great to have Bonnie Bedelia’s Holly back for what ended up being the final time. Dennis Franz’s Capt. Carmine Lorenzo is the gold standard of insufferable characters but Die Hard 2 is still a case of the good greatly outweighing the bad.
Stream Die Hard 2 on AMC.
2) Die Hard with a Vengeance
image courtesy of 20th century studios
The one man against an army direction was what made Die Hard, well, Die Hard. It wasn’t the first to do that (even Cobra was before Die Hard, for instance), but it sure was the one to perfect it.
Even still, after two such overpowered protagonist narratives, it was time for McClane to get a partner. And, in Samuel L. Jackson’s Zeus, he got his best one by a country mile in Die Hard with a Vengeance, which saw John McTiernan return to the director’s chair. The two Pulp Fiction vets’ chemistry is off the charts, and that’s a major winning factor, but so too is Jeremy Iron’s work as Simon Peter-Gruber. He was perfectly-cast, but equal credit needs to go to the fact that he was written well. The vengeance motivator makes the movie feel intimate even though it was the most expansive to date, and his riddles (including one that doesn’t make a super large amount of sense) are phenomenal when it comes to putting the protagonists through their paces and making the audience feel every ounce of their anxiety and panic.
Stream Die Hard with a Vengeance on AMC.
1) Die Hard
image courtesy of 20th century studios
Of course the original Die Hard gets the top spot. It isn’t just the best of its franchise, it’s the best action movie ever made. And, yes, it is one of the best Christmas movies ever made. There are Christmas tunes, there are Christmas decorations, the phrase “Ho-Ho-Ho” is written on a corpse, it’s a Christmas movie.
This is one of those movies where nothing feels out of place. There is no dull moment, there is no character that feels as though they have no need to be there. It’s brutal (rest in peace, Mr. Takagi), it’s claustrophobic, John McClane was the perfect everyman hero, Alan Rickman is a magnetic snake as Hans Gruber…it’s one of the best movies ever made.
Stream Die Hard on Prime Video.
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